(F 8486/8204/10)
52
Memorandum
Foreshore rights
in China and recent cases arising
from them.
The Chinese rule of Law with regard to the
right of a riparian owner to acquire the title
to accreted land appears to be, that any land
formerly part of the bed of a river which, by
the process of nature or otherwise, becomes an
accretion to the holding of a riparian owner
does not become the property of the latter, or
at any rate only becomes his property after he
has paid the necessary fees to the local
authorities and received a title deed in return.
It is difficult to make out how far the Chinese
|authorities have the right to withhold the formal
grant of such title upon payment of the
necessary fees, but it probably cannot be
ultimately maintained that the Chinese are bound
to grant the necessary title, particularly where
the property in question is required for public
utility. In general, the accepted position
seems to be that, in the event of natural
accretion or reclamation in the public interest,
the riparian owner is enti uled to the right of
preemption at the market price. But where
works of public utitity are contemplated, the
local authorities have the right, so far as
international law is concerned, not only to
refuse to grant a title to accreted property
but also to expropriate a bona fide owner,
provided